Saad Allami, Montreal Muslim: Workplace Quip Made Me A Terror Suspect

MONTREAL - A Muslim man alleges he's become a terror suspect simply because of a workplace quip -- he says all he did was tell his sales staff to ''blow away'' the competition at a trade show.

Now Saad Allami is seeking $100,000 from the Quebec provincial police force, one of its sergeants and the provincial Justice Department.
Allami says in a Quebec Superior Court filing that he was arrested in January 2011 and accused of being a terrorist because of a pep talk he gave fellow employees.

Allami was a sales manager for a telecommunications firm when he sent out a text message to staff urging them to "blow away" the competition at a New York City convention.

He alleges that, three days later, he was arrested without warning by Quebec provincial police and detained for over a day while his house was searched.

Allami says he has no links to terrorist organizations or the Islamic movement and that police acted without any evidence or research.

Allami worked for a telecommunications company. Some of his colleagues later said they were held at the Canada-U.S. border for hours on account of the false allegations against their work associate.

Provincial police spokesman Guy Lapointe says he is aware of the filing, but the force won't comment any further on the case as it is before the courts.

The allegations have not been proven in court and the application is to be presented at the Montreal courthouse on March 5, according to the documents filed.